Got Apple Peels? Make a Simple Apple Peel Cider!

It’s the time of year for peeling loads of apples for all sorts of wonderful autumn preparations. I love the sessions in the kitchen with bubbling pots that fill the house with those cozy smells. But I always feel a little bit guilty about sending so many apple peels to the compost pile– do you? Not any more! I now turn mine into an Apple Peel Cider.

A couple of weeks ago, I spent all morning in the kitchen making a colossal batch of apple sauce. It’s not that we’re huge apple sauce eaters, but that there are a ton of apple trees in our area dropping apples– and no one else seems to be picking them up! So we brought home a couple big bagsful, and I set to work peeling and coring them. I saved the peels, thinking there must be something I could use them for. I thought about an apple peel wine, but never found any compelling recipes or posts about making it– plus, the one I did find called for a list of things that I didn’t want to have to get. I just wanted to do something quick and simple. So, I thought I’d just do my own thing and see what would happen. I made Apple Peel Cider. And now I am happy to share that the experiment was a success, and you can try it, too!

The cool thing about cider is that you can make it without adding any yeast. The skins of the apples have the yeast culture on them already. This makes things somewhat unpredictable, though, since you don’t know exactly what it will taste like. But that’s something I really love about wild-culturing– the element of surprise.

Making Apple Peel Cider

Please understand that this is not a typical, structured, exact recipe. I want to tell you how I made my Apple Peel Cider, roughly, and then let you have your own fun experiment with your apple scraps. It’s totally interesting, and not much work– why not have a go, right?1. Start with organic, unwaxed apples. The best ones are not from the supermarket, but ones you know the origins of somewhat– a local orchard, your farmer’s market, or a neighborhood tree. This is the perfect project for doing after you have processed a bunch of apples for something else– apple sauce, pie fillings, preserves, etc. Save your peels (cores too, if they are not too funky– but avoid the big moldy patches you have to cut out of windfall apples.) Collect all of your peels.2. Put them in a fermentation bucket, and pour boiling water over them. I used about equal parts water to peels by volume (not weight.) I added some chunks of peeled fresh ginger, and recommend it, if you like ginger too. (I had no trouble with developing the yeast this way, but you might want to keep a handful of peels out of the boiling water, and add them once the mixture has cooled, to be 100% sure that you don’t kill all of the yeast with the hot water.)3. Cover the apple peels and water with lid, and let everything sit for 3-4 days. This will allow the yeast to develop and begin fermenting the apples.4. Strain the liquid from the peels, and add sugar. I used organic natural sugar, and added about a cup to one gallon of liquid. The formula for a stronger cider is more sugar + more time = higher alcohol content. I wasn’t going for a super strong drink, and the result has been really light, tart and fresh.5. Pour the cider mixture into sterilized demijohns, put the airlock on, and let it do its thing somewhere away from the cold for two weeks. You can of course taste after one week, and see where you’re at. If the cider is already drier than you want, then you can add some sugar. Again, this is very experimental, and is a virtually free science project that will yield a fun home brew!6. When it’s just slightly sweeter than what you want, it’s time to bottle.Be sure to use swing-top bottles, because the is a fizzy drink and will burst regular bottles if there isn’t a mechanism to release small amounts of CO2 when it builds up. 7. Open a bottle within a couple of days, and see what it’s doing. If you like where your cider’s at, then put the other bottles in the fridge to slow down the fermentation process, and drink sooner rather than later. This will continue to ferment, and you may get a more champagne-like product than you want it if you leave it for too long. The over-fermented version usually tastes awesome, but you are likely to lose most of it to the geyser-effect when you open the bottle. (Yes, I am very familiar with this part!)

8. Enjoy your free, one-of-a-kind autumn drinks!What kinds of apple projects do you have planned this fall? Do you use the peels?

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I’m not Joanna, but I add it to the water. I make my own ACV or kombucha vinegar, either works to cure and prevent coccidiosis. After that last bunch of chicks I brought home I’m never raising chicks again without it!

I just finished a big batch of applesauce, and the peels went into a pot to make apple jelly. I’ve done apple butter too, it’s just a matter of what we’re craving. This cider sounds yummy, but I think I’m done with applesauce this fall – maybe next.

We love apple butter. I’ve never made apple jelly before! I think our peels were too tart to make a sweeter concoction with– I had to add quite a bit of honey to our apple sauce. I guess that’s how it goes with many of the apple trees in parks!

I really would like to try this, but do not have the fermentation equipment that you suggest. Would there be other options to try? The only thing I have ever fermented is kombucha, and I just use mason jars for that, with coffee filter over the top until they are finished, Then it gets poured into the swing-top bottles for finishing and storage.

The first part doesn’t need to be air-tight, so a large mason jar would work just fine for that… I really prefer to use something with an airlock for the next part. Since you’ll be creating a lot of CO2 and don’t want to introduce any other bacteria to the ferment. Do you have a really big canning jar with a lid that clips on (like Fido or Le Parfait?) Those would allow wome gas to escape, similar to the swing-top bottles. Do you have some large swing-top bottles? Those could work too. You coul possibly use a large mason jar, if you remember to faithfully “burp” it– you just don’t want too much pressure to build. You could experiment with the open method you use for kombucha, but I can’t really say much about that, since I haven’t tried it that way before. I guess you don’t have much to lose, if you have a pile of peels and a little sugar laying around!

Thanks for the response. I’m going to try it the way I do kombucha for the first step and then see what I can come up with for the second. And you’re right, nothing to lose since they would normally go into the compost. We’ll see how it turns out

This is slightly random (and maybe a bit too late in the day) but using a party balloon over the top of the jar for the second stage as it just expands up as the C02 is produced, you can then let the gas out if it is getting too bit so that it doesn’t just burst.

Do the apple peels have to be unwashed? I have some apples from a friend’s tree, and some others from the Farmer’s Market, but usually I wash them if I am going to use the peels. If I wash them, will they still turn into cider or will the natural yeast be washed off?

Lived on an organic farm that made apple juice and cider, and sauce. They had got apples from all over the area. To process the apples and get more juice they used a clean wood chipper to mush the apples and them press the juice out. From there they would decide how much of the solid remains to use to make cider and ferment away. The cider was great come mid winter. Just thought the chipper idea was the best for processing huge quantities of apples, and getting the max juice, they said it tripled the amount of juice extracted.

You can easily make an airlock to fit any size jug by stretching a rubber balloon over the jug and the pierce a pin hole or two or three, as needed, into it. Alternately, you could take and cover a larger mouth container with clean cling wrap, hold it tight to the container with a rubber band and pierce a pin hole or two or three, as needed into it. Fermentation is not “Rocket Surgery” : ^ ) In England they often ferment beer without any use of airlocks at all

Sorry hopboy – I hadn’t read down as far as your comment when i posted the balloon thing too – I’ve not tried piercing it before though, I’ve just let the gas out if it was getting precariously big – will try piercing it next time though!! Thank you for that idea

This sounds delicious! I started my ACV last week, and when I went to move it to a mason jar to ferment yesterday, it smelled just like hard cider! I wanted to drink it so bad, but alas, patience won and I will have some great home-brewed ACV in just over a month

Actually drinking an apricot cider right now. I don’t drink alcohol, and after much trial and error, (hopefully had a helpful effect on my kitchen sink pipes) have found that if I just do one diluted ferment with no added sugar for at least 1 week, and then refrigerate before opening, and add 1 T sugar when opening the chilled bottle; there is no concern with appreciable alcohol content as it is fermented and carbonated. It runs out of sugar long before it can make alcohol. Going to try this recipe with just the single one week ferment! We got 5 huge granny smith’s off our 1 yr old tree this year! Can’t wait!

Thanks for this. Too late for me this year as I used the peels to grind and throw into the raw food they eat. Next year they will have to give up some. Can’t wait. Have some apples that are aging, I bet they would do well for this project.

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I tried this with some of the apples we got this fall. I let it go quite a bit longer to get a drier cider and bottled it up tonight. It’s so good! Thank you so much for sharing this idea, I never would have thought to use the peels. I had dark red apples and got pretty pink cider out of it.

I don’t suggest using the cores unless you make sure you get all the of the seeds out first. I know many probably never have, and some will guffaw at me, but apple seeds contain trace amounts of arsenic. I wouldn’t want to chance cutting open some mutated seed and then brew it and risk offing myself for some cider. I just use the peels to start the fermentation and add the sliced apple bodies after the first day.

It’s not arsenic, it’s cyanide, and it isn’t released unless the seed is cut, ground, chewed, or otherwise broken up. And if you did chew up the seeds, it takes an entire cup of seeds to get to dangerous levels.

I have always swallowed my apple seeds– it’s super hard to poison yourself or anyone else this way. I even brew my plum wines with the pits, because you don’t get much exposure unless you are crushing and eating them (and some people even do this without giving it a second thought.)

Barry, sorry for the late reply. Adding water will of course dilute the cider. So I would suggest tasting what you have, and deciding whether you would like the flavor if it was diluted. If you do add more water, you can also add more sugar to increase the flavor and alcohol levels.

hi-
i am on step 5 and its been 6 days – theres “stuff” growing on the surface. admittedly i am using old fashioned wire bail ball jars as it was all i had. i did not use a rubber seal – just glass lid and closed figuring it wasnt airtight.
so – suggestions? is all lost or can i skim it?
any advise will be helpful.
thanks
-jennifer

Jennifer, does it look like mold? Is it white or grey? Or is it blue/ green? If it’s just a little, I would skim it off. If it’s some scum, or clusters of bubbles, all of that is totally normal. If you thin it’s a little mold, skim it off, keep covered, and keep going. Hopefully the good bacteria will take over. I might throw in a fresh curl of unwashed, organic apple peel, for good measure.

thanks for the info and advice to keep going!!
it seems to be a combination of things – mostly white, but one light greenish and one big crawly thing (growing on top and up the side of the jar) sort of like a dust bunny? i know that sounds really gross, but ive seen worse (like on my pickles) and skimmed it off….so i guess i will go ahead and skim and give it a whirl. there are little bubbles around the top next to the glass.
will keep you posted i am very excited!

[…] cider, here is a good resource. And lastly, if you’d like to do it all without any juicing, try making a flavorful cider using just apple scraps. Most of the flavor is in the peels, so this works pretty nicely, especially if you are making a […]

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Ariana Mullins is an American writer, cook, explorer and photographer. She shares her family's stories of challenge and adventure as expats in Europe, as well as inspiration for living a simple and meaningful life. She has a passion for restoring lost kitchen arts and loves to share her experiences in foraging, butchery, home brewing and anything new she can get her hands on in her English kitchen.

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